Crash

Earlier tonight, as I was sitting in the car, I started coming up with a very short story in my head, and I kept kind of repeating it so I wouldn't lose it. I think I did lose a bit, but here's what I managed to come up with. It's very short, very fictitious, and probably very unfinished. I apologize, Ralph, for using your name, but hey, when I think of texting at the wheel, I think of you.


Crash

So, that was how I died, speeding down the 145 in the Range Rover, blasting The Gaslight Anthem, my new phone clutched in my hand as I waited for an instant message. It’s sad to think that had Ralph not gotten that text, or if he’d gotten it about five seconds later, we’d have been alive. If his boyfriend could’ve held off just five more seconds, if he hadn’t felt that breaking up at that exact moment was absolutely urgent, Ralph would’ve seen the car coming at us, stopped or pulled over, and then we could’ve continued on our way once it had passed us or rammed into someone else. Of course, he shouldn’t have been texting at the wheel, but it was 2009; who didn’t? I guess that’s life, though; your friend’s boyfriend decides to send a text at the most inconvenient time, your friend decides to open it at an even more convenient time, and the next thing you know, you’re crushed between the dashboard and the passenger side door, reduced to nothing but a bloody corpse. As if that wasn’t enough, my new phone had flown through the windshield and into the road, where car after car proceeded to drive over it, immediately ruining the touch screen. I suppose it was a good thing I was already dead; my dad would have killed me.


Questions, comments, concerns?

SXR

Something to think about...

In America, and likely many other industrialized nations, we are taught that buying free trade goods is the way to go. But what is free trade? Basically, free trade is defined as "international trade not restrained by government interference or regulation, such as duties." What this means is that an American corporation can freely stop producing a good in the United States and shift production to a developing country where labor is cheap, thereby resulting in a cheaper good, which means more consumption. Cheaper products are always good, as far as we consumers are concerned, but we must remember that they are cheaper for a reason.

American-made goods are often more expensive than those produced in countries like China and Honduras. This is because of the labor conditions and standards we have set in our own country to ensure the fair and equal treatment of workers. Essentially, the higher price of the good ensures that all workers are paid at least the minimum wage and work in an environment deemed safe and acceptable here in the U.S. When production of a good is outsourced, there is a higher supply of labor that will demand less pay, making production cheaper and fair treatment of workers unimportant.

Outsourcing also hurts the U.S. economy by taking jobs from citizens who need them. The number of blue collar manufacturing jobs in the United States has decreased as more and more factory jobs are sent overseas. In today's poor economic climate, we need these jobs. In Madera, CA, the unemployment rate for November 2009 was about 15%, and in Fresno, 16.5%. The state of California had an unemployment rate of about 12.3% in November, (all of this according to centralvalleybusinesstimes.com), making it the state with the third highest unemployment rate, falling only behind Rhode Island and Michigan, which has been greatly affected by the downfall of the auto industry, as it was home to most of the United States' auto manufacturing jobs. By bringing manufacturing jobs back to the United States, it is entirely likely that while the price of goods would likely go up, unemployment rates would drop considerably, so more and more people would be able to afford the new American-made goods. We rely too heavily on other countries for goods and services that we could be producing ourselves, and by doing so, we bring ourselves down economically.

Nike, undoubtedly one of the most well-known brands in America, has been outsourcing most of its labor for decades. The company has been known for violating minimum wage laws, using child labor, and disempowering women. Despite all of this, the company continues to make millions of dollars, little of which will ever make it to the women and children working in their factories. If that isn't enough to make Nike look bad, their legal record should be; they've been taken to court by Apple and fought with Ian Mackaye, along with a number of other groups and activists.

While it would be illogical to expect any American to rely strictly on fair trade goods, it would be nice to see some of the effects of globalization begin to diminish. Easy access to global events is fantastic, but abusing workers in third-world countries for a cheaper shoe is nothing to praise.

SXR

Golden Years

Music is always one of the easiest things I can remember or call back, and there are certain songs that I'll always have a definite connection to. There are some I can connect to a certain location, an emotion, an event, and even certain weather. Since this is basically becoming a video blog, I've decided to post some songs that I can connect to relatively fresh memories and attempt to explain the feelings they bring about.


At this point in my life, this song is one of the most memorable. I immediately associate it with late nights in the Range Rover, driving through Fresno or wherever else we happened to be, likely sipping Dr. Pepper or full from some amazing vegetarian-friendly dinner. I think about the glow of my Sidekick in my hand, as well as that of Ralph's as he sat in the front seat, controlling the music while Josh drove. I think of the wind blowing back at me through the halfway rolled down front windows, and even the smell of cigarette smoke, which was sort of an on and off thing, depening on whether or not Ralph was still into smoking. It reminds me of heading home at three or four in the morning, eyes tired from seeing a late movie and acid reflux no doubt kicking in. This song reminds me of a lot of things, and I'm sure it'll be one that always brings me back to the good old days.


Fuck Youtube for disabling the embed feature on the actual video heh. This song... Oh, lord, this song heh. I believe it was the day before we left Scotland when Jon played this on the bus, several times I believe, and we all had the most epic sing-along as we drove back from the Queensferry bridge and ended up stuck in traffic for ages. I can remember exactly what the road looked like, and that drive seemed to take forever. This was after we'd eaten pizza by the bridge, watching the sun begin to set and trying to ignore the Scottish douchebags in shitty cars as they verbally harassed a couple of the girls. This song is almost enough to make me cry. There's just something about Scotland that does that to a person.


Yet another sing-along song from Scotland. I'll be honest, this one does make me cry from time to time heh. We first sang it at the ceilidh, then again on the bus, and christ, it was absolutely heart-wrenching to think we were leaving.


This one reminds me of my first trip to England. I do believe I had it on repeat as we got off the bus in Calais and boarded the ferry to Dover. It was raining, and although it wasn't a Sunday (as far as I can recall), this song felt perfect. I remember approaching the famed white cliffs of Dover, as well as an incident on the ferry involving a certain roommate's valium heh. Good times.

That'll do for now. Expect another installment sometime in the future.

SXR

Fresno Fest '09

Just for the sake of having something to do, I thought I'd post some videos from Fresno Fest '09. Good times were had.

(This was how I mutilated my pinky nail.)







See what you missed out on? Shame on you. Say what you will about Fresno, but it's got one of the liveliest scenes I've ever come across. True, a lot of kids don't go out to shows very often anymore, especially just to see local bands, but those that do are passionate about seeing local DIY music and organizations thrive, and that's something to be rewarded.

SXR

Good Times

Fresno Fest was an absolute blast. Jeremy did a fantastic job putting it together and managing an event that took place in two different venues. I somehow managed to break my pinky nail almost right away, so now it's got blood underneath it and it's kind of messed up, but it's all good. I was already sore from working at the food bank on Friday, but now I'm even more sore. It's kind of good, though, to feel like I've been doing something.

I think that since I'll have time over the break, I'll do a sort of step-by-step picture blog of my screen-printing process. I know my prints aren't amazing, but maybe when people see what I'm working with, they'll understand why heh. At the very least, I should get some real mesh and stop working with curtains, but I have to do some shopping and find good prices first. I'll get better in time, especially once I can invest in some better materials.

On that note (sort of), I'm extremely proud of Fresno's DIY scene, especially because of the number of girls who participate in it. Since I started going to CYC, I've seen more girls involved in shows than I ever have before, and more and more of us are trying to start businesses or play in bands, which is great. The scene has always been dominated by males, and although I don't have a problem with that, necessarily, I think it's important that more women get involved and try to make it on their own. I just wish Madera had something like Fresno does. We have no venues, few bands, and few kids who can get leave a party long enough to realize that there's more to life than meat, drugs, and whatever religion their parents have forced them into. The world is an amazing place full of different ideas, and few of them have ever tried to explore it.

Now to plan a trip to Oakland on New Years Day...

SXR

FRESNO FEST

Today, I'll be at the sixth annual Fresno Fest, handing out 3SN buttons and probably being socially-awkward. It's what I do. Expect some sort of Fresno Fest recap at some point in the somewhat-near future.

SXR

Current Favorites for December

In an attempt to write something fairly interesting that doesn't sound hella thought-out or pretentious, I decided I'd post a few of my current favorite songs and bands, and just plug a few locals. (As if anyone on the internet cares. Then again, I tweet all the time, so whether or not people care is clearly of no consequence to me.)

Yeasayer's new single "Ambling Alp."

This is the first time I'm seeing the video, but it's pretty interesting. Certain aspects of it remind me of Gareth Pugh (strangely), The Mighty Boosh, and, for some reason, I want to say TV On The Radio. Sadly enough, I first heard the song at Urban Outfitters a while back.

Good Riddance's "Think of Me."

The fact that these videos aren't the same size is pissing me off. I would have posted a live version of this song, but unfortunately, none of the live videos are very good. I'm absolutely infatuated with Good Riddance lately, but this is definitely one of my favorite tracks.

Wolves and Thieves

Too fucking great. I love watching these guys whenever I can. Pick up their new self-titled album or snag a copy of their split with Bastards of Young!

Hudson Criminal

Another size, another great band.

The Martyrs' "Stay True Bobby."

These guys recently relocated to Hollywood, but they're originally from Fresno, and I've seen them play a great show more times than I can count. Nice guys, good musicians, et cetera.

I'm too lazy to look up anything else, as my wifi keeps coming and going, so I'm done for now. I'll have more useless favorites at a later date.